Statue Still
by JammyToast
Summary: What happens when Pepper gets back to New York? One-shot, Pepperony.


Pepper sat on the destroyed sofa staring out at the equally destroyed Manhattan, trying desperately to hold herself together. The place where she was currently sat and the bar being almost the only places without a man sized hole in the floor, the hole in the wall, the missing glass, all of it, only made her feel more on edge.

When she had looked away from the television screen on the plane to check her phone and found one missed call from none other than Tony Stark she knew she had to turn the plane around. She had raced back to the tower, impatiently waited for the elevator to reach the top floor and almost burst into the main room, the door rattling on its one remaining hinge, only to find it completely destroyed with no trace of Tony whatsoever.

So with shaking hands and wobbly legs she had walked over the only remaining piece of undestroyed furniture and quickly sat down, before her knees collapsed from under her. She was feeling so many different emotions that she couldn't make sense of them and so just sat there, still as a statue and waited. She didn't even realise she was crying until she saw the tear fall onto her skirt, but still didn't move to wipe it away.

She sat there, unmoving, for what seemed like hours, staring out at the Manhattan skyline. She eventually heard the elevator ding and faintly heard voices laughing but she barely noticed it.

It was only when he spoke did she snap out of her daze and look up. She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it when she noticed the strange array of people stood at the entrance of the room.

"Pepper?"

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and, stepping over man sized holes in the floor, made her way to stand in front of him.

Tony and the team had gone to the shawarma place he had mentioned for what was supposed to be a relaxing lunch after a hectic day, but ended up being a fight over who should be the official 'Team Leader'.

When they had finished, Tony had invited them back to the tower for a tour and offered to put them up for the night, instead of them having to get home after such a hard day. Besides, he couldn't wait to show Bruce his new lab.

And see Pepper.

_Pepper_.

She had been stuck in the back of his mind since he woke up, and he had tried to put on a face and act like nothing was wrong but he couldn't stop thinking about seeing her again.

They made their way to the tower, narrowly avoiding been seen by camera crews and journalists and were on their way to the top floor soon enough. Thor had just said something particularly strange about 'moving metal boxes' when they reached their destination.

The elevator doors opened and while the rest of the Avengers gazed at the destruction in the apartment Tony's gaze was instantly drawn to the figure of Pepper Potts, sat daintily on the edge of the sofa, her back ramrod straight.

"Pepper?" She looked up and his stomach lurched when he saw the look in her eyes. Devastation, pain and the kind of anger she saves for when he has done something extremely bad written so clearly across her face he began to fear for his life.

The rest of the team had stopped looking at the torn up room, coming to the conclusion that the angry red head stood in front of Tony was going to be much more entertaining.

Tony coughed to get their attention and smiled tightly.

"Could you guys go and take a look at the labs on level five? I'll be there soon I promise." They nodded, though slightly disappointed to be missing out on the action.

Once the elevator door had closed Tony turned around and made his way to the seat, not able to look her in the eye knowing how angry she was.

"I thought you were dead."

It was so quiet for a split second he wondered if she had really said it.

When she spoke next, her voice was louder with more anger than sadness. Her words were harsh and it took every inch of his self-control not to flinch.

"The last thing I said to you was 'be careful'. Be careful. That was all I asked you to do. I didn't ask you not to go, no matter how much I wanted to. I only asked you to be careful. But you didn't pay any attention to that did you?"

He turned around, ready to defend his actions, not expecting the fire he saw in her eyes.

"Pepper, -I" She cut him off. Her voice was getting louder and her eyes were beginning to water.

"No, instead I had to watch you fly into a black hole with a nuclear missile on your back. Then you disappeared and I picked up my phone to find one missed call. From you. Do you have ANY idea how that made me feel? I thought I had lost you, so I turned the plane around and I came back for you. And I sat here for hours waiting for you to come back, for you to call me, for you to do anything! And instead of calling your girlfriend to tell her that you weren't dead, you went to get sushi?!"

She stopped talking and stood there staring at him, her chest heaving. He took her momentary silence as his chance to talk.

"I'm an idiot Pepper, I know that, you know that- Hell, the whole world knows that." She snorted in agreement.

"And I know you hate me for the thing with the missile and I know that calling you when I was up there probably wasn't the best move but I did it because I love you. I had to keep you safe Pepper, and the only way to do that was to get rid of the missile. And I know that there's no excuse for not calling you or coming back but the truth is I knew you would be upset and I couldn't bear to face you knowing that I was the cause of your pain. I am so sorry."

She looked up at him and her shoulders sagged in defeat. He pulled her into a tight embrace and she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, letting his warmth was over her and allowing herself to relax into him.

"I can't lose you again. I can't take it." He pulled back just enough to see her face and he could see her lower lip trembling.

He reached up and gently brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, the corners of her mouth lifting upwards slightly.

"You won't. You never did." She nodded and he hugged her again.

When they pulled back he saw that her face had softened and the anger that had lit up her eyes had disappeared.

"Now that that's sorted, can you please explain to me why there's a man sized hole in the floor of our living room?"

He laughed and took her hand, pulling her towards the elevator.

"I'm sure Bruce will be more than happy to explain."


End file.
